Hulugalle Weda Walauwa.

The ancient Kingdom of Kurunegala.

According to ancient demarcations the Kurunegala city lies within the precincts of Daduru Oya from the North,Kalu Ganga from the South and the kingdom of Malaya from the East.The land itself had belonged to the ancient Kingdom of Maya.Even though the city is located on flat land it is surrounded by a mountainous region in one side and on the other there are five massive rocks namely Anda gala (a rock shaped like an Eel),Ibba gala (a rock shaped like a tortoise) Etha gala (a rock shaped like an Elephant), Yaddessa gala and Kuruminiya gala (a rock shaped like a beetle).These geographical formations had protected the ancient kingdom from invasions of enemy forces.The ancient routes that lead to the city fell along the passes that separated these huge rocks and hence they were arduous to trek.It is evidently discernible if one is to peruse though an ancient map of the city that the Kingdoms of Kurunegala and Kandy shared the same military strategies in fighting the enemy.The mountains in the territory that belonged to the Kandyan kingdom dwarf that of  Kurunegala in terms of elevation and the routes that lead to it (e.g: Balana and Ginigathhena) were much treacherous  than the ones found in Kurunegala yet the two regions share the same geographical similarities.It is a well known fact that all the main roads leading up to the Kandyan Kingdom were consistent of passes.In Kurunegala too similar passes could be found on most routes.
These natural strongholds caused by the geographical barriers that acted as ramparts in giving security to the Kingdom of  Kurunegala were the stalwart behind its' success as an administrative capital of Sri Lanka for over a half a century.

The ancient folklore tells of a mythical story woven around the origin of six rocks that  are scattered  in and around the Kurunegala city.The names of these rocks are as follows Etha gala,Ibba gala,Anda gala,Elu gala,Kuruminiya gala and Lunuketiya gala.(Gala is a Sinhala word meaning rock).

A long time ago there had been a lake in the middle of the city (this lake could be the one existing in present day) and in it had lived a she demon.She had eked out her subsistence by foraging on the fish,Lotus seeds and on Lotus spuds that were amply growing in the lake.During this time a scorching drought had hit the region.The temperatures had risen up to unbearable highs.Which had caused a scarcity of water in the area.Little by little the fish in the lake were dying and its Lotus plants had started withering. Anyhow for some mysterious reason there had not been any shortage of food supplies for she demon.

The drought had also attracted the wildlife in the area on to  the banks/shores of the lake to quench their thirst.This however did not please the she demon.She did her best to keep the beasts away from the water.The intrepid beasts some or other found way to have a quick lap with their tongues in the water.

On one such day an Elephant,a Tortoise,a Goat,an Eel and a Beetle had come up to the lake to quench their thirst.All five of them had placed themselves at a considerable distance to each other. The presence of the entire ensemble at the water's edge had sent  she demon into a mad frenzy. She had thrown a chunk of salt towards the animals while admonishing that they will never be thirsty if they lick on the salt. The animals had given credence to her words and started licking on the salt. Immediate the chunk of salt began to grow bigger.In addition to that all five animals had turned into rocks and the chunk of salt too after reaching giant proportions had turned into a rock.This brings an end to the folklore woven around the genesis of six rocks above mentioned.

Kurunegala is also called by many other names the etymology of these names needs be considered. Hasthi shylapura is one such name (the word Hasthi in Sinhala means the Elephant) and since the city is situated at the foot of the Elephants rock this must have been the reason for the origin of the word.Finally, how the city came to be known as Kurunegala needs be considered.The words 'Eth' or 'Hasthi' are also referred to as 'Kurana' or 'Kuruwa'. During the times of the rule of ancient kings 'Kuruwe' was a village inhabited by a community of people who were designated with the office of taking care of the herd of Elephants that belonged to the King.The word ' 'kurune' is made up of two phonetics they are accordingly 'Kuru' and 'Ane'.The first phonetic 'Kuru' is found in many ancient scriptures dealing with matters concerning the Elephants.The second phonetic 'Ane' refers to a collective noun.Therefore, 'Kuru' + 'Ane' had  become 'Kurune' later on.Further more the folklore also mentions that a group of relatives who migrated from the land of 'Kuru' (an area close to New Delhi of today)  had been residing in this area.The word 'Neya' in Sinhala means a relative.Therefore joining of the two words 'Kuru' and 'Neya' had given rise to the name Kurunegala. Any how all these legendary stories concerning the origin of the list of names the city bares somehow ends up with one theory. That is they all sprang up because of the gigantic Elephants' rock found in the middle of the city.